Recent technological advances in the field of surgical needles have included improved materials, diameter, strength, and sharpness. However, few improvements, if any, have addressed needle shape.
Typical surgical needles vary widely in size, depending upon the surgical application, however most surgical needles are curved, or semicircular in shape. The broad, curved design is particularly useful in suturing of single layer wounds, for example, skin wounds.
Surgical needles are generally formed from wire into the desired curvature, for example, in the range of 1/4 to 2/3 circle, having a sharpened point or edge for cutting. Examples of prior art surgical needles include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,811,157, 3,038,475, and 4,524,771.
The advent of new surgical procedures which utilize small, deep incisions through multiple layers of tissues, including arthroscopy and laparoscopy, have created a need for a new surgical needle shape. Use of the broadly curved surgical needles previously known in the art requires suturing each layer of a multiple tissue layer deep incision, requiring the placement of numerous sutures in the incision and requiring prolonged surgical time to complete the tissue repair. A needle design which would enable a surgeon to pass the needle with accuracy though multiple layers of tissue at one time, and at a controlled depth and width, would be of great utility in the suturing of small, deep surgical incisions.